Conquering the Dark Axe (4 page)

“And I had to force the hellion to do so. 
Never have I been pushed to such lengths as this to what this wench has forced
me to do, my friend.  Her parents gave her too much free reign and it has
proven to be a grave mistake for her. She is too willful and knows not when to
keep a still tongue.”  Rourke’s irritation rose higher as he stood. 
Nay, despite their terror of him, most women threw themselves at him, even the
ones he did not want.   Except Jacqueline.

 After her, he’d vowed never to force a woman
to do anything ever again.  Until now.
 
  

“Our king’s warning need not come true. This is not
the way to start what could possibly be a good union.” 

Rourke gave him an incredulous and sharp look and
said sarcastically, “Methinks that mead has made your thick skull even more
thick. Who says I wish for a good union with her?  Besides there is no
good in that Saxon bi- Nay. Enough.”  He frowned, irritated with the
conversation and shook it off.  “Good eve, Goran.  I have to get
through the rest of the night and I will without a blade in my back. Pray that
I do not suffer impotence and my seed takes so that I can quickly put this
night behind me.” 

Rourke quit the hall in a few quick long strides and
did not see the smile light on Goran’s face.  Goran’s gaze fell upon the
red-haired wench who was just now entering the hall.  Rourke had stormed
right past her without acknowledgement and her cross expression spoke volumes
of her upset.  Goran watched her disappear around the corner heading for
the kitchens.  Aye, it had already begun.  Goran downed the last of
the bitter mead with a grimace.

THREE

Rourke stood outside her chamber door, Nay! 
His chamber door now.  He had been surprised at the different look of his
wife when she had appeared in that cream colored gown.  Although it was a
bit snug in the arms and back, it enhanced and brought too much attention to
her more than ample breasts. 

He’d found his eyes drawn there more times than he
wanted to count.  For with her hands tied together, they pushed them
together and out.  His mouth had gone dry.  Lust had slammed into him
like a fist and caught him off guard, causing him to grow angrier as the
ceremony had gone on.  And even now, he was plagued with the lingering
feelings. 

He had felt nothing but awe when he had first
spotted her at the gravesite.  Anger, aye, he’d felt that too, but not
lust.  She was not the usual type he sought for pleasure in his bed. 
He did not want to feel anything for her.  Surely it was just eagerness to
get her with child and secure his fiefdom, and be done with it.  After all
he needed to be aroused to complete his duty.  Satisfied with that
conclusion, Rourke entered the chamber. 

Alexa held her breath as he entered.  The
Norman stood at the door watching her, his back against the door. 

She wanted to look away from his deep penetrable gaze,
but found she could not.  Camm, against the other three servant’s
disagreement, including the red- haired wench, had covered her with a fur to
shield her nakedness.  The Norman had given the order for her to be
stripped bare, strapped down as before, but this time, with her legs in a
spread eagle pose and tied to each post.  

At the humiliating position, especially in front of
one that had been so intimate with him, the red flush had spread from Alexa’s
face down to her naked toes. It had been a battle to fight back the mortified
tears.  This ultimate shameful act had been too much for her, yet, she’d
be damned to hell before she’d let these women see her shed one tear at the
disgusting and vile way their savage lord was treating her. 

She knew the flush still clung to her flesh because
she felt the heat in her cheeks.  But watching him now as he walked over
to the side of the bed, she prayed for strength to get through this
night.  Camm had said it would hurt briefly and that more times than not,
a man could spill his seed once and get a woman with child. 

Only once
and the seed could be planted, Alexa breathed in a shallow breath and swallowed
a strangled sigh with some relief.  She hoped Camm was right, for looking
at the Norman’s large body now it was all she believed she could withstand she
was sure of it.  The man was so large, once probably would still be too
much, if he didn’t kill her first. 

Alexa prayed fervently it would be over fast as she
watched the handsome warrior began to undress.  Her breath quickened as he
peeled his tunic over his head.  His chest was bare, massive, heavily
muscled and defined, with arms to match.  His right arm had a bronze band
around his bicep.  The muscle looked as though it would pop the band right
off. 

Camm had told her that the more she relaxed the less
it would hurt and Alexa knew in that moment it was going to be quite painful
for her.  How was she supposed to relax when the man was undressing in
front of her and caused disturbing things to flutter in her belly?  Still,
even bound, she’d planned to make it as difficult as she could for him and she
found herself hating him  even more for making her find his large body
attractive.  Alexa did not know that as her eyes followed his movements,
his eyes watched her.

She bit down on the gag.  Rourke pulled off his
braies, and her eyes followed as he slid them slowly down past his hips. 
Alexa’s breath hitched as his semi-hard member burst free.  Her mouth
parted.  Oh God, he was going to kill her. 

When he bent at the waist, Alexa saw the many scars,
some deeper than others, but the one that stood out was the deep and ugly
gouge  that started at his navel, circled round his waist and up to
the  middle of his upper back.  She swallowed a horrified gasp with
the wonder of how he had received and been able to survive such a deep
wound.   

He must have heard her for she caught the briefest
hesitation in his movements, but he did not turn to look at her.  His
back, taut, and bronzed from the sun rippled with muscle as he finished
disrobing.  He reached behind his head and with a flick of his wrist,
removed the leather strap, his golden-hair spilled around his shoulders and
Alexa was in awe. 

If she thought he was beautiful before, he was a
Norse God now.  What was wrong with her?  She could hardly
breathe.  Mayhap the gag was not only cutting off her breath, but also any
sane thought.   She wanted to turn from that large body of perfection
and muscle.  Never had she seen anything so beautiful.  Could a man
be beautiful? She did not know.  But he was, to her.  Her eyes had a
mind of their own and moved up to his chin, over those full lips and stopped at
his green eyes. 

Rourke grew to full attention when her eyes met
his.  He was so hard, it was almost painful.  He was irritated still
by it. Had he not just lain with Lina a little more than a month ago?  And
now, he was almost ready to explode over his Saxon bride before he was even
inside her.  He shook off the odd feelings that seeped in again.  Her
amber eyes had grown darker as they bored into his and drew him to the
bed.  He read open passion in them and it angered him just as much as it
pleased him.  He did not know why it angered him so.  Aye, he
did.  There were two reasons. 

He didn’t want to want her.  The other, she was
a bit long in the tooth, well past the marrying age. A sudden thought hit
him.  What if she were not a virgin?  Rourke swallowed. What did it
matter now, it was too late.  She was his wife and burden now and she
would give him an heir.  But something stirred at the back of his
brain.  It did matter and he scowled.

 Rourke knelt one leg on the bed and reached
for the gag, then paused, his hand hovering over her mouth and he said, his
words clipped, “If you scream or curse me, I will shove this back into your
mouth.  Understood, hellion?” 

She wanted to scream through the gag to just remove
the bloody damn thing.  Their gazes warred with each other for a
moment.  Then she nodded slowly.  He removed it. 

“I want this over just as you. So, will you fight me
or will you let it go easy?”

“Just get it over and be done with it.  I will
not make this easy for you, Norman bas-“  Her words stopped when his hand
returned again to hover above her mouth with the gag. 

Alexa inhaled deeply, her eyes storming with
anger.   Her mouth was dry, her tongue heavy.  Nay. She did not
want that damn thing back in her mouth.  She met his gaze. 

He laughed, although the smile did not reach his
eyes.  “I don’t see how you plan to do that considering your current
position.  I spoke the truth. You don’t fight, the quicker it will be over
for us both.” 

Alexa didn’t know why, but his words stung. She had
imagined all the hateful things and threats she had planned to spew upon him
while she had lain here waiting for his arrival.  Not knowing if he would
come or not with a part of her hoping that he wouldn’t as the other part hoped
he did.  The part that had thought he’d not come, she had believed he was
taking pleasure in knowing that she lay here in this position, naked and would
leave her thus so just to extend her punishment.  The other, she’d wanted
him to come.  She told herself it was so the deed could be done and over,
put behind them. But, she’d known it was a lie.  Something about this
brute of a man captivated her. Anger and shame had swept over her for even
thinking such thoughts. Now that he was here, she wanted to shake herself and
the shame away. 

She could not think past that body of his- it was so
close to hers now.  His man part bobbed near her face.  She blushed
even deeper.  It looked like the size of his arm, but she knew that was
untrue, for his arm was pulling back the fur that covered her chest. 
 She wanted to protest, but she was mesmerized by his tanned flesh and his
organ seemed to grow even larger right before her eyes and her eyes grew with
it.  The skin, smooth, veins filled with blood and pulsing, she had the
urge to reach out and touch it and for the first time since he had bound her,
Alexa was thankful that her hands were tied. 

Air hit her naked breasts and a loud gasp did escape
her lips then.  It mattered not for it was drowned by the grunt that came
from Rourke.  He feasted his eyes upon her creamy white globes, her
stomach and down to that dark triangle between her lean, toned legs. 
Rourke’s gaze swept over her from head to toe.  Pale skin, curved in all
the right places. He had been wrong.  She was not skinny at all.  She
was quite muscular and lean, her stomach, his hand reached out and spanned her
waist.  Her belly quivered under his touch and he liked it.  Her body
was perfection.  Hard, but, ah, soft too.  The scowl on his face
began to disappear.  His hand trailed up, over her ribs to cup one of
those warm luscious breasts.  He could not wait any longer.

Alexa stopped breathing.  Fear and another
emotion shot through her and she could not stop her body from trembling. She
explained it away by telling herself it was just her body, nothing more. Sins
of the flesh for her to like his touch.

 Rourke slid his palm over her nipple, the hard
tip nearly made him cover her body with his and take her right then, quickly.
He felt her arch into his palm.   He should just end it. But he held
himself back as he realized he had lied. He wanted to enjoy it.  He forced
the growing need to be inside her back down and to go slow. 

Alexa flinched when he grazed her other breast,
pleasure shot through every limb. Nay!  What was he doing to her? 

Rourke watched the emotions flit through her
eyes.  Confusion covered her face.  He leaned down, one hand on her
breast, the other on the bed, supporting his weight and he kissed her lips
lightly.  Resistance met him as she tried to turn away from the kiss, but
he pressed more firmly until she stopped fighting him.  She softened just
enough for him to slide his tongue into her mouth.  Alexa tried to pull
away from his hot invasion, but he held her there and explored the soft
recesses of her mouth. 

She did not meet his tongue.  He was doing too
many things to her at once and Alexa did not know who she was more angrier with,
him or herself at the response from her body. She bit her lip and told herself
not to feel anything. But, hell, her body was not listening.

She found herself meeting his tongue with her own as
he continued his assault on her with his hot mouth and warm caresses and she
heard the groan that seemed to rumble from deep within his chest. 

Rourke deepened the kiss and allowed his tongue to
dance with hers in a sensual caress for a long time before lifting his head to
gaze down at her.  He liked the sweet taste of her mouth and she knew how
to kiss. That thought darkened his scowl. Her amber eyes were slightly
closed.  He wanted to look into those readable depths and ask her who and
how many had come before him, but he shoved the aggravating thought aside. Nay.
He wanted to see everything she felt when he branded her with his touch and
made her forget any other.

“Open your eyes.” He ordered.

She hesitated at his command then obeyed. Rourke
dipped his head and kissed her again.  Alexa sighed.  He was driving
her crazy.  Her body was tingling all over, she felt a craving deep inside
building, aching.  She tried to stop her legs from trembling, but that was
hard to do with them half numb.  She was near panting.  So she fisted
her hands into the rope instead and held on.